Decorative arts

Writing Desk

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Type: Decorative arts(Opens in new tab)
Date: ca. 1730
Accession number: 13.4
Attributed: Le maître aux Pagodes(Opens in new tab) (French, 1730–1739)
Dimensions: 32 3/16 x 77 x 39 1/4 in. (81.8 x 195.6 x 99.7 cm.)
Medium: oak and walnut carcase veneered with kingwood; gilt bronze mounts; modern leather top
Credit: The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Department: European Art
Find out more: View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)

Label text

The fine bronze mounts, loosely recalling Asian pavilions, that decorate this desk have led scholars to attribute it to the so-called Pagoda Master, an as-yet-unidentified cabinetmaker active in Paris in the 1730s. The fascination with Asian ornament, or chinoiserie, developed as trade routes to the East brought artifacts and other examples of Chinese and Japanese design to Europe. This desk combines Asian-inspired escutcheons with traditional European subject matter, seen in the allegorical heads and masks mounted along the legs and side panels.

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